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Glite Dictionary
control key

control key

2.8
A key on a computer keyboard that you press with other keys to do special actions
  • noun
  • /kənˈtroʊl ki/
  • Specialized
translation icon : tecla de control
  • In many programs, you can copy text by holding the Control key and pressing the C key simultaneously.
  • control key for player
  • control key for media player

But if it on a raw sort of machine, the ASCII low end is done by using the control key.

Examples

  • To select multiple files, press the Control key while clicking on each file you want to include.

  • They have three or four control keys (pick the one that suits you).

    Blog text (6)

  • If you want to open a link in a new tab, hold down the Control key while clicking on the link.

Surface Forms

control key singular
control keys plural

Morphology

control + key

The meaning is directly compositional: 'control' (a mechanism to adjust functions) combined with 'key' (a pressable lever) yields a keyboard key used to perform control functions. This literal, technology-related compound follows regular noun-noun composition and is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Control key is named because the word control means to change what another key does. In early keyboards pressing it with another key made a special action, and today holding the control key with another key creates shortcuts and other special actions.